This hotel is right on the property of the National Park. We booked a deluxe room overlooking the volcano. We couldn't see the volcano because of the trees. What a view. When we got to the room you could tell it hadn't been used for a while. There was a musty, closed room smell. The room was way overpriced, $250 per night, including taxes. The staff were rude.
If you do stay here, do not eat in the restaurant. It is horrible. This hotel is one that should be torn down, all the staff fired and started over.

Glad we visited the Park, but wouldn't stay here for any reason. We had a tiny twin room in the Ohia building for $130 plus tax. I know the buildings are old, but the upkeep was dismal. There was a miniscule (and noisy) heater perched up on the wall, the shutters looked like they had been painted dozens of times, and the stairs going down to our room were quite narrow...hence the many scrape and scuff marks from luggage. We requested NOT to have a downstairs room, and only saw one other couple in the entire building. Obviously our request was ignored.
The staff was okay, but seemed more interested in talking to each other.

The hotel was similar to a hotel you would find along US 25 in South Carolina - except no TV! The restaurant was horribly expensive, the service was poor, and the food was forgettable. Save your money and stay in Hilo or rent a house in nearby Volcano Village.

I only feel half-guilty writing this review. Though I love Volcano Park and I think that the park staff are wonderful, I took my family to the Volcano House expecting at least a minimum of a clean and quiet room. The experience was so bad that I have discouraged friends and family from ever going to the Volcano House.

It would be one thing to run a historic hotel, make improvements as needed, and charge reasonable rates. It is quite another to run an outdated property, neglect maintenance, and charge high rates. We spent two nights in one of the premium rooms: crater view, two twin beds, space heater, walk-in closet. This room sits adjacent to one of the common-area rest rooms so you hear a fair amount of traffic including some loud banging sounds, possibly toilet seats dropping, and you can hear people speaking across the wall. We complained to the front desk, but they seemed either not to know the origin of the banging or knew that there was nothing that they could do to stop it (or they didn't care).

The beds are saggy, with probably circa 80's mattresses and worn linens. Shower was mildewy with a loose drain cover.

The 'crater view' is impeded by the heavy screens in front of the windows. You get a much better view by simply walking outside and looking.

Staff at the gift shop were nice. We had dinner at the hotel's restaurant; our waiter had too many tables but was at least polite. The front desk staff were marginal, though, giving us perfunctory service and seeming more occupied with personal phone calls than us. The restaurant food was just adequate, and didn't justify the high prices. I thought that the breakfast was pretty good, though it was standard buffet fare.

One note about the famed fireplace. The hotel makes a big fuss over their lobby fireplace, that it has burned for the last 12 decades. They claim that it has been lit continuously during that time. In fact, they have a framed copy of a Ripley's Believe it or Not article describing the fireplace. If this is true, then that may explain the smoke that belches from the hearth and necessitates leaving the lobby windows open for ventilation (we made sure that we had an escape plan for our room). I hope that this is all a myth and that they have actually hired a chimney sweep, as one would do periodically for any wood-burning fireplace. If the myth of the everlasting fire is actually not myth, then that is one more reason to avoid this place.

This place is not quaint, not charming, not even an adequate place to stay, at least not in Room #1. And it is expensive. There is a reason that people are posting angry reviews here. No, not because they want silk sheets, but because if they are like me, they have slept better on a Therm a Rest in a tent. It is because they feel ripped off.